ALLTEL LG TRITAN AX480 REVIEW

LG has come out with an Android-less G1-looking sliderphone for Alltel. Check out a review after the jump.

The LG Tritan looks to be a child begat from a T-Mobile G1 and a Sidekick, minus the G1's scoliosis (AKA the little angled part on the bottom). It's hefty, but not unmanageable, and uses every ounce of that heft to pack in the laundry-list of features present in most touchscreen phones of today. When the phone is closed, we have a 3.0 inch touchscreen display, and the typical array of function buttons--talk, back, end, and a directional pad. Unfortunately, the buttons don't seem to differentiate in any way, and are relatively close together. Also, the d-pad appears to be a bit small and unruly. Inside the slider, one will find a slightly recessed QWERTY keyboard. The keys look to be of a reasonable size, though they look to be a bit flat, though that likely shaves off a good eighth to a sixteenth of an inch off of the phone's depth.

On the back, one may find a 3.0 megapixel camera, though with no flash or portrait mirror. Next to that, though, is a grating for a loudspeaker. On the side, the phone has the standard volume keys, a button to lock the device, a microSD slot, and a USB port. Typical, but all-the-while appreciated.

Feature-wise, the phone is reasonably dense for the price tag. Bluetooth, EV-DO (though no Wi-Fi), GPS, and a full music player (though no headphone jack) help to make the phone worth it for its size. LG appears to be running their own OS on this device, and although it runs reasonably smooth, it's packed with clichéd gradients and swipeable interfaces. Though for the price, one should not complain. The phone also has a snappy, full-HTML web browser thanks to that great amount of screen real estate.

Pros

• Cheap
• QWERTY Keyboard
• Reasonably attractive
• Big touchscreen

Cons

• Some awkward button placements
• Not the best OS
• No Wi-Fi
• No camera flash or mirror
• Quite hefty for a budget phone

Overall, you get what you pay for, and all of my qualms do not really matter when you have a phone with a big screen and a keyboard that can text message 'til kingdom come. The phone is available now for $79.99 after rebates with a 2-year contract.